Easing the Pain
by Aerilon452
Summary: Belle tending to Rumpelstiltskin when he is in pain. COMPLETE ONE SHOT


Summary: Belle tends to Rumpelstiltskin when he is in pain.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of OUAT

Rating: K

Pairing: Belle and Rumpelstiltskin

**EASING THE PAIN:**

Rumpelstiltskin sat on the couch with his right leg elevated. It had been twitching, the muscle jumping in extreme protest from his hike to the well; despite magic being back. It reminded him all to well of the man he used to be, the one who had limped, and who had been afraid of everything. He had been the town coward. Then Belle's voice echoed in his mind, _"You're a coward Rumpelstiltskin." _ She had been right, at the time he had been reverting to his cowardly ways by sending her away. He hadn't wanted to feel deep, soul searing love for her and then putting her in the path of Regina. Yet, that happened anyway. The Evil Queen had gotten to her no matter what. He couldn't prevent the one he loved the most from being used by the Queen, being used against him. What good was he to Belle? How could he protect her now?

Reaching down, digging his fingers into the tensing muscle of his thigh Rumpelstiltskin attempted to bring some semblance of order back to his battered right leg. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he looked up to see Belle lingering in the doorway watching him with a curious expression marring her delicate beautiful face. She asked, "Are you alright?" He dropped his hand. He was trying to hide the fact that he was in pain. Rumpelstiltskin knew he couldn't keep this from her, and yet, he still tried. He didn't want her to see him when he was at his weakest.

Belle entered the room going over to him without a second thought. She saw the man he was, not the man who longed for his power to be returned. This was him, the true form of Rumpelstiltskin. He was tired, he was in pain, and he was worried. "Is there anything I can do?" Belle whispered sitting demurely on the floor waiting to see what he would say. Rumpelstiltskin shook his head no, but she didn't believe him. Beside her on the short end table was a glass dish holding a crimson/purple streaked gel. Pushing her sleeves up, she took her place on the edge of the table bringing his foot into her lap slowly pushing up the right leg of his pants.

Rumpelstiltskin was shocked, "Belle... what..." He put his hands on hers. "No, stop..." She couldn't see him like this, his mangled right leg that reminded him of a time he had been a frightened, scared human being with no self respect. "Don't see me like this." Rumpelstiltskin pleaded. His heart quivered in his chest.

She moved her hands from under his, raising them up to cup his face. "Shhh. Let me do this for you." She pleaded with her eyes. Dropping her hands from his jaw Belle once again moved the fabric of his pants up enough to where she could see jagged, angry, scars marring his flesh. Her heart broke at seeing them; tears threatened to cloud her eyes. Belle couldn't help but notice the short panic filled breaths Rumpelstiltskin was taking. He was waiting for her to run at the sight of them. Well, she wasn't going to do that. They were scars, and they were apart of him. "I see you." Belle stated. "I see all of you." This was the man she loved. "No matter how you appear to me, I will not run." She could sense that was what worrying him the most. Belle wasn't concerned with his scars; they were apart of him. Her love for him was not for his body, but for his soul.

Rumpelstiltskin was trying not to panic at the sight of his scars from the Ogre's War he had been forced into by the Duke of the Front Lands. A different Duke than the one who had tried to take Bae, but still a Duke with too much power and time on his hands to start wars. Rumpelstiltskin had been one of the casualties from a long gone war. Now, Belle was before him, seeing the pain he buried under his power, and she wasn't running away. "Don't..." He breathed out. Belle looked at the gel that he normally massaged into his leg when the pain was too much.

Belle didn't listen to him. Reaching to her right, she dipped the tips of her fingers in the iridescent crimson gel feeling it instantly warm at her touch. She coated her hands enough that she could gently work the soothing balm into his ravaged skin. Tentatively her fingers passed over the first scar. Rumpelstiltskin jumped in response but he let her continue. Mindful of the pain he had to be feeling, Belle slowly worked what gel she had on her hands into his skin, feeling the healing heat. Up and up she moved until Belle had to get more of the soothing substance back on to her hands to finish what she had started. Her hands once again coated, Belle pressed her index and middle fingers of both hands into the side of his knee applying just a little more pressure. It was there she felt the muscles spasm.

Rumpelstiltskin bit back an involuntary yelp of pain when Belle tried to quiet the muscle. However he couldn't stop the hiss that slipped through his gritted teeth. She immediately pulled her hands away to her chest not touching. "It's not you." He assured trying to get his breathing back under control. Her touch was too much sensation on his weathered skin, on his heart that loved her so much. His soul could not take the blinding love he could feel pouring out from Belle. At the end of the day, when he was at his lowest, Rumpelstiltskin felt he didn't deserve a good woman like Belle and her love. Yet, she was here, she was with him, and she loved him like no other woman had. His heart blossomed with love for her all over again. This was his woman, his love; Belle was his true love.

"Are you sure?" Belle asked clenching and unclenching her hands. "Please tell me I didn't hurt you?" There was already enough hurt between them. She didn't need to cause him more.

"You didn't. You hands are better medicine than the soothing gel you're working into my skin." As far as his defiant leg would allow, Rumpelstiltskin leaned foreword cupping Belle's face as she had done to him. The tips of his fingers eased along her jaw. "Please, continue." He urged resting back against the couch with her hands once again rubbing up his leg, up to the edge of the bunched up pant leg. There would never be another sensation that would compare to this moment of Belle's hands tenderly trying to sooth a wound he sustained hundreds of years ago. "I love you." Rumpelstiltskin said easily. Those words had been in his heart, in his soul, as he spent the day waiting for Belle to return after he sent her to town.

Belle looked up at him, "I love you too." Her eyes stayed on his, her hands never wavering from his skin. Until she was sure that his pain was gone, Belle kept coating her hands and working the warming gel into his skin. She couldn't bear not helping him. Their life together wouldn't be easy; she knew that, but Belle also knew that her life with Rumpelstiltskin would be worth it. The love they share, the fierce unending love, it would make them stronger.


End file.
